Power operated chart storage means



June 25, 1963 w. N. NlcHoLs POWER OPERATD CHART STORAGE MEANS 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. ll, 1961 W. m. m. W .M1 M d wn W W W Y B EtJune 25, 1963 w. N. NxcHoLs 3,095157 POWER OPERATED CHART STORAGE MEANSFiled Jan. 11, 1961 3 Shee'SI-Sheet 2 Ward /M Nic/7013` 1,: 1NVENT0R.

June 25, 1963 w. N. NlcHoLs POWER :OPERATED CHART STORAGE MNS 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Ward M Mbo/s INVENTOR.

BY Mg-mqs United States Patent Ofi Eee 3,095,157 Patented June 25, 19633,9%,157 PWER PERATED CHART STRAGE MEANS Ward N. Nichols, Edmonds,Wash., assignor to Dan Luneta, Seattle, Wash. Filed Jan. 11, 1951, Ser.No. 82,0% 4 Claims. (Ci. 242-674) This invention relates to improvedmeans for storing and viewing ship and vessel charts and has to do witha more or less standard char-t table and novel facilities thereon foreffeotually handling charts in 'a manner to permit the charted indiciato be consuited expeditously, whereby to save valuabrle time `and to, atthe same time, maintain the charts in lgood condition 'over a relativelylong period of repetitional usage.

Persons conversant with :the art to which the invention relates areaware that on virtual'ly all Ships and vessels from 28 feet on up to atleast 100 feet, storage facilities and space are invariably at apremium. Considering the fact that the average vessel may be .travelingmost of the time it is evident that a multiplicity of char-ts are neededand referred to. Almost any vessel in the category stated will haveaboard at least 40 to 80 charts. The problem is always the same; namely,to quickly find a particular chart that may be there and then needed.The present and 'prevailing method is to store charts, when they are notin use, by rolling them up and sticking them in spaces between cabinbeams. Manifestly, with this practice it is diflicult to find a wantedchart. Then, too, rolled up char-ts are usually dirty -and worn 'aftercomparatively short usage. Obviously, Vthis situation has posed aproblem -and it is this problem which gave rise to the instant conceptand the invention which, it is submitted, will satisfactorily solve theproblem.

Briefiy, the invention at bar comprises power-operated means; namely,electric motor driven -spools on which end portions of a charted stripor web are wound. By using a suitable reversible motor andmotion-transferring and transmitting means between the motor shafit 'andthe spool's, the spools may be caused .to rotate vin a manner to causethe charts on the strip to move back and forth, whereby to select agiven chart for viewing and also to thus enable the charts to beeffectually stored and protected.

In choosing a preferred embodiment of the invention the regular charttable is simply provided on the underneath side with a suitable basepanel and all of the principal component parts are conveniently andeifectually attached to and suspended from the underneath side of thepanel.

More explicitly, the invention in an over-all sense is characterized bya chart table 'an edge of which is adapted to be hingedly mounted on astationary support, said table having planar top and bottom surfaces,the top surface designed and adapted to allow a flexible charted stripto shift and travel back and forth thereon, said table having oppositetransverse ends provided with paralleling freeturning guide rollers overwhich cooperating reelable portions of the strip may be trainedand sothat the usable portion of the strip may be shifted flatwise for viewingand reading the charted indicia, and a self-contained attachmentembodying a base panel superimposed upon and secured to 'the 'bottom ofsaid table, strip winding and reeling spools mounted on endportions 'ofthe underneath side of said panel adjacent to end portions of the paneland their respective guide rollers and on which end portions of thestrip are wound, and manually controllable strip moving and stoppingmeans consolidated and suspended from a median portion of the panel andsituated between the spools and designed and adapted to selectvelyimpart rotation to the spools.

Construed as an attachment for a conventional hingedtype chart table,'the invention pertains to a base panel, a rockshaft moun-ted foroscillation on a central portion of said panel, a cross-head fixed onone end of the shaf't providing left and right selectively usable handlevers, circuit make and break movable contact elements mounted on anopposite end of the rockshaft for coaction with fixed contact elementsmounted cooperatively on the panel, an electric motor having -a casingfiXed on a median portion of the rockshaft to rock in conjunctiontherewith, said motor having an axial drive shaft carrying a driveelement, spools mounted for rotation parallel to and also to the rightand left of the rockshaffs position, and driven elements on end portionsof the spools cooperable with `the drive element by way of interveningmotion transferring |and -transmitting idlers.

While it is within the purview of the inventive concept to utilize atrain of gears to transfer or .transmit motion from a pinion on a driveshaft on the motor, it is preferred that friction driving sheaves beutilized. To this end, the drive sheave on the motor shaft may be causedto swing to either the right or left of a normal center line by reasonof the Vfact 'that the motor is fixed on an oscillatory rockshaft. Thisarrangement and 'construction permits the sheave to be engaged withidling sheaves which are pivotally mounted and spring-loaded and which,in turn, transfer the motion 'by 'way of smaller sheaves to relativelylarge 'sheaves `at |the ends of the strip winding drums or spools.

These together With other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside 'in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference'being had .to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinllike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view which is dra'wn somewhat in perspective fand whichshows the invention and the manner in which it is used.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the same illustrating the slant or degree ofinclination when using the charted strip.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged bottom plan View wherein all of the principalcomponent parts are revealed, the drive sheave and the motor androckshafit 'being in neutral position.

FIG. v4 is an elevational view showing the details and their associationand arrangement from 'another point of view.

FIG. 5 is a section on the Vertical line 5-5 of FIG. 4, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view in elevation the purpose of which is toshow the off and on position of the drive sheave and the construction,arrangement and action of the simple brake means.

FIG. 7 is a `detail section With parts in elevation on the Vertical line7-7 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a detail section on a large scale taken on the line 8-8 ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing a slightly different constructionand arrangement of sheaves with planar peripher-al surfaces and rubberor equivalent 0- rings on certain of the sheaves.

The aforemenitioned chart table is denoted generally by the numeral 12and is fiat-faced and generally rectangular in plan. As illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2 an upper edge portion thereof is hingedly mounted as at214 on a suitable relatively stationary support 16. Simple anglebrackets 18 are mounted on the transverse ends 20' and are provided withbearings to accommodate journals 22 at the ends of free-turning guiderollers 24.

As before mentioned, all of the essential or component parts which go tomake up the unique storing and oper- 3 ating facilities are mounted on asimple base panel 26 which is superimposed against the underneath sideof the table and screwed or otherwise held in place at 28. The spool tothe left in FIG. 3 is denoted as a unit by the numeral 30 and hasjournals 32 journaled for rot-ation in bearings provided therefor on thefixedly attached oppositely disposed hanger brackets 34 and 36. Thenumeral 38 designates a head at one end of the spool. The numeral 4Gdesignates a marginally grooved sheave or motion-transmitting element atthe other end. The grooved periphery may be provided with suitablyattached O-rings 42 to accommodate a cooperating motion-transmittingsmaller sheave 44 carried by a shaft 46 mounted in brackets 48 and 50.This sheave 44 is a component with the larger speed-reducing sheave 52in 'the manner shown. This sheave is pivotally suspended as at 54 andthe sheaves 44 and 40 are maintained in constant operating relationshipby way of a suitably tensioned and mounted coil spring 56. The righthand spool in FIG. 3 is 'denoted generally by the numeral 58 and thedrum portion 60 thereof is provided with journals 62 mounted in bearingsprovided therefor in the L-shaped hanger brackets 64. The constructionhere is the same as that already described in that a simple disk-likehead 68 is provided at one end and a marginally grooved sheave 70provided at the opposite end. This sheave receives motion from therelatively small friction engaging sheave 72 and the Companion sheave 74which sheaves are on a common axle 76 pivotally suspended from thehanger brackets 78. Here again, a tension spring 8%' serves to maintainthe respective sheaves in proper friction-driving engagement.

Reverting to the bracket 36 and with reference in particular to PIG. 7it will be seen that this is of a special construction -to allow thedrum to be removed. More specifically, the depending leg S2 is hingedlymounted at 84 and a stay device 86 is lhere provided. This deviceembodies pivotally mounted links S8 and 89' and a locking sleeve 9G'which is spring-biased as at 92 to maintain its desired position. Bycollapsing or folding the stay device '86, which is permitted by movingthe sleeve 90, the limb or leg 82 can be disengaged from the journal 94.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 3 again wherein it will be noted thatthe numeral 96 designates a rockshaft which is mounted and oscillatablein suitable attaching brackets 98 and 100. The casing of the electricmotor 102 is provided (FIG. with a base 104 fixed to an adapter plate106 mounted on the rockshaft so that 'the motor swings in conjunctionwith the -oscillation of the rockshaft. The drive shaft 108 of the motoris provided with a driver element '110 here shown in the form of agrooved wheel or sheave. This sheave is in line with the aforementionedsheaves 52 and '74 as shown in FIG. 3. The rockshaft is also providedwith a controller handle 112 which comprises a simple rod secured by :acollar or hub 114 to the end portion of the rockshaft. This arrangementprovides the left-hand lever 116 to the left with a suitablefinger-piece 118 and a second lever 124) to the right with itsfinger-piece 122.

I The opposite end portion 124 of the rockshaft serves to operate 'themotor off and on switch 'which comprises, as shown in FIG. 4, means 126carrying an arm 128 having relatively movable contact buttons 130 on theends thereof alternately cooperable with fixed contact buttons l132.Suitable wiring is provided here to permit the ;switch means, whenproperly actuated to turn the revervsible motor 102 oif 1and on.

Simple mechanical brake means is employed to prevent the charted strip Afrom becoming too loose and sagging. The readable portion B of the stripis shown passing over the fiat surface of the table for use in themanner illustrated, for example, in FIG. 1. The end portions are rolledor wound as at C on their respective winding and reeling spools. Now,with reference to FIG. 6

and the brake means, this comprises a block-like fixture 134 which isixedly mounted on the rockshaft and which, in turn, is provided withhingedly mounted lugs 136 carrying adjusting screws 133 and alsooarrying spring fingers 14% which, in turn, are provided with drag shoes142 and y143 which engage their respective idlers or sheaves 52 and 74,respectively. It will be noted that PIG. 6 also shows the manner inwhich the shoes swing from left to right to engage their respectiveidling sheaves and in addition shows the ofl and on position of thedrive element or sheave ;110.

In practice it will be o'bvious that the strip A is stretched :tlatwiseacross the top of the table and that the end portions C are wound ontheir respective spools or drums. The aforementioned brake means, servesto prevent accidental unwinding of the spools when the motor 102 and itsdrive element 1'16' is in the neutral position shown in PIG. 3.Obviously, by Operating either lever 116 or the rockshaft v96 isoscillated to the left or the right as the case may 'be and that themotor 10 is likewise tilted as brought out in FIG. 6 to bring the driveelement into Operating engagement with the selected idler. The idlerturns and this, in turn, transfers or transmits motion to the desiredspool making it possible to move the charted strip from left to right orfrom right to left as the case may be.

In FIG. 9 the motor shaft is provided 'with a driver or wheel 1150having O-rings 152 on its periphery to engage smooth marginal edges 154of the idlers 156, the latter carryin-g smooth marginal complements 158to engage the rubber O-rings 160 on the spool driving elements 162. Thisis simply an alternative driving arrangement which may be used ifdesired.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A ehart table attachment comprising a flat base panel adapted to bemounted on the underneath side of a chart table over which a strip mapis transported and which is provided with free turning guide rollers toopposite transverse end portions, complemental coplanar strip mapreeling and storing 'spools operatively mounted on the underneath sideof the panel adjacent to and parallel with :end portions of the panel,said spools provided at corresponding ends with individual 1frictiondriven elements, motion transmitting speed-reducing idler sheavescoplanar with each other and having individual constant friction-drivingcooperation with their respective driven elements, a rockshaft locatedin a space between the spools and extending transversely across thecentral portion of the panel and mounted for angular rotation inbrackets provided therefor on said panel, said rockshaft provided at oneend with 'selectively usable manually trippable levers, one leverprojecting in a direction on toward the right of the user and the otherin a direction toward the left of the user, a plate having a medianportion fixed to said rockshaft and having edge portions tiltable towardand from the panel depending on the levers which are operated, alongitudinally disposed reversibletype electric motor having a casingfixed on said plate and having an axial shaft provided with a driveelement coplanar with and normally in the space between the adjacentidler sheaves, the shaft being parallel to but eccentric from the axisof the rockshaft and the drive element thereon being selectively movableinto direct friction-driving contact with the 'selected idler sheaves,coil springs at right angles to and attached at inner ends to the motorcasing and having outer ends fixed on said panel, said Springs servingto normally maintain said plate parallel with the panel and the driveelement in a neutral position between the idler sheaves.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and in combination, brake shoesreleasably engageable with the respective idler sheaves, and meanssupportng and operatively mounting the brake shoes on and from saidrockshaft.

3. A chart table attachment comprising a fiat 'base panel for mountingon the underneath side of a chart table over which a strip map issupported, a pair of reeling and storing spools, means mountin-g saidspools in parallel relationship on said panel, said means comprising twopairs of brackets secured to and depending from said panel, each spoolbeing supported :by one of said pairs of bracliets, driven elementsfixed to like ends of each spool, a shaft, means rockably mounting saidshaft between the spools, said means comprising bracket members securedto and depending from the panel, a reversible-type electric motor fixedon and depending from said shaft and bodily rockable therewith, saidmotor being in substantially the same horizontal plane as said spools,said motor having an axial drive sha'ft carrying a drive element, idlersheaves mounted on said panel and positioned between the drive anddriven elements for selectively transferring motion from the driveelement to either one of the driven elements, spring means secured toand between the motor casing and the panel serving to normally maintainthe motor in a neutral position between the idler sheaves, and a pair ofoppositely extending selectively usable levers on said shaft, saidlevers aetuatable to rock the shaft so as to selectively engage one ofsaid idler sheaves for the driving of the adjoining spool.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 Wherein one of said spool supportingbrackets is pivotally secured to said panel for movement into and out ofsupporting engagement with the adjoining spool, a stay extending betweensaid one bracket and the panel, said Strap consisting of a pair ofpivotally mounted links and a locking sleeve spring 'biased intooverlapping position on the adjoining ends of said links so as toreleasably secure said links in a longitudinally aligned relationthereby maintaining said braclzet in engagement with said spool.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS609,669 Greenleaf et al. Aug. 23, 1898 1,22436-34 Gottschalk May 1, 19171,831,294 Englund Nov. 10, `193-1 1,846,004 Green Feb. 16, 19322,692,779 Willsea Oct. 26, 1954 2,765,552 Schlafiy Oct. 9, 19562,8'17,571 Lee Dec. 24, 1957 2,837,294 acobs June 3, 1958 .2,8' ",873Mageoch July 28, '1959 2,951,653 Haenel Sept. 6, 1960 2,965,323 FosterDec. 20, '1960 2,973,156 Draheim Feb. 28, i1961

3. A CHART TABLE ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A FLAT BASE PANEL FOR MOUNTING ONTHE UNDERNEATH SIDE OF A CHART TABLE OVER WHICH A STRIP MAP ISSUPPORTED, A PAIR OF REELING AND STORING SPOOLS, MEANS MOUNTING SAIDSPOOLS IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP ON SAID PANEL, SAID MEANS COMPRISING TWOPAIRS OF BRACKETS SECURED TO AND DEPENDING FROM SAID PANEL, EACH SPOOLBEING SUPPORTED BY ONE OF SAID PAIRS OF BRACKETS, DRIVEN ELEMENTS FIXEDTO LIKE ENDS OF EACH SPOOL, A SHAFT, MEANS ROCKABLY MOUNTING SAID SHAFTBETWEEN THE SPOOLS, SAID MEANS COMPRISING BRACKET MEMBERS SECURED TO ANDDEPENDING FROM THE PANEL, A REVERSIBLE-TYPE ELECTRIC MOTOR FIXED ON ANDDEPENDING FROM SAID SHAFT AND BODILY ROCKABLE THEREWITH, SAID MOTORBEING IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME HORIZONTAL PLANE AS SAID SPOOLS, SAIDMOTOR HAVING AN AXIAL DRIVE SHAFT CARRYING A DRIVE ELEMENT, IDLERSHEAVES MOUNTED ON SAID PANEL AND POSITIONED BETWEEN THE DRIVE ANDDRIVEN ELEMENTS FOR SELECTIVELY TRANSFERRING MOTION FROM THE DRIVEELEMENT TO EITHER ONE OF THE DRIVEN ELEMENTS, SPRING MEANS SECURED TOAND BETWEEN THE MOTOR CASING AND THE PANEL SERVING TO NORMALLY MAINTAINTHE MOTOR IN A NEUTRAL POSITION BETWEEN THE IDLER SHEAVES, AND A PAIR OFOPPOSITELY EXTENDING SELECTIVELY USABLE LEVERS ON SAID SHAFT, SAIDLEVERS ACTUATABLE TO ROCK THE SHAFT SO AS TO SELECTIVELY ENGAGE ONE OFSAID IDLER SHEAVES FOR THE DRIVING OF THE ADJOINING SPOOL.